Integration of the free software GenOpt for a thermal engineering course

Abstract

Information and communications technologies (ICT) are being used in engineering fields due to multiple advantages that motivate their introduction in university teaching. A course on thermal engineering has been taught for the past 3 years as part of the industrial engineering degree at the University of Vigo. Energy savings and efficiency are common issues. In a practical classroom, one example is the energy simulations of buildings. These tools can be used to simplify the realization of control strategies for different building HVAC systems, which, in most cases, results in an important reduction in the building's energy consumption over its lifetime. In this paper, the feasibility of using the free software GenOpt for simulation practice and as a tool for teaching and learning inside and outside the classroom is analyzed. These results, together with an analysis of the study plan of the industrial engineering degree at the University of Vigo, allow for the development of new teaching and learning methodologies as well as their implementation in energy simulation practice. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 24:356–364, 2016; View this article online at http://www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI

Teaching optimization of manufacturing problems via code components of a Jupyter Notebook

“…According to Diaz et al , the diversity of methods appears as the most fruitful way to undertake an educational renewal of university education. Furthermore, in university education, it is increasingly necessary the acquisition of certain skills in numerical and symbolic computation, especially relevant for future researchers and workers of the private sector related to engineering area [4,7]. Thus, the increased need for these knowledge, it should require their integration into the subjects of different degrees, in order that they become familiar with these.…”